Targeting of Down syndrome babies is at stake
Judge Tonya Walton Pratt
INDIANAPOLIS – The U.S. Seventh Circuit last week heard arguments to determine if Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses will continue to be able to abort unborn children for the sole reason of the child’s sex, race, national origin, potential disability or Down syndrome, and whether Indiana abortion providers will be permitted to treat the remains of unborn children as common medical waste.
Major provisions of the historic Dignity for the Unborn Act, also known as HEA 1337, were blocked in late 2017 by Judge Tonya Walton Pratt, an appointee of President Obama.
“The issue is whether unborn children can be discriminated against by targeting them for abortion based on a variety of factors including Down syndrome or the color of their skin,” said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. “Indiana took historic action in extending the same civil rights protections we recognize for persons who are born to children who are in the womb. It is tragic and chilling to hear the ACLU and Planned Parenthood deny these civil rights by defending the unrestricted targeting of unborn children for death.”
“The civilized world was appalled last year when it was reported that nearly 100 percent of babies with Down syndrome are aborted in Iceland,” added Fichter. “Yet this is exactly the type of targeting that abortion businesses in Indiana are defending. We hope and pray the Seventh Circuit will uphold Indiana’s historic protections for unborn children.”